as a representative is how this has been politicized so quickly. >> do you dare come on my show and say iamusingtheslaughter of 20 little 6 and 7-year-old children? >> how many children do you have? >> joe, how many children do you have? >> i have four children, tim. answer my question. >> so do i and i refuse to let you say because you have children or anybody else that we need to actually politicize this. >> joining me now, delaware attorney general beau biden whose father vice president joe biden is leading the new task force and los angeles mayor and the current president of the u.s. conference of mayors and a member of the mayors against illegal guns and also joining the conversation is congressman john yarmouth of kentucky. stand by. the nra started the press conference. >> i welcome you here this morning for the purposes of beginning our discussion of the topic that's been on the minds of american parents across this country. that is what do we do about the tragedies of the sort that struck in newtown, connecticut to avoid such events in the future? like most americans, we were shocked

usedgunsthat belonged to his mother. now, his aunt who was interviewed by a local tv station in north carolina says that the mother was something of a survivalist. she feared economic collapse and two sources have told nbc news that he was at least for a time home schooled. this is someone whose description fits so closely to other shooters that we have heard about in previous mass shootings. that he was a loner. many people thought he was intelligent and his brother told investigators yesterday that he had a history of mental problems. we are still waiting for a key piece of information. police told us this morning that they would release an official list of the victims and, of course, craig, that has yet to happen. >> chris jansing on the ground. we should note we also have a photograph that we got a short time ago of adam lanza's mother. here is that photograph. this is lanza's mother, nancy. this is a photograph from facebook. and just a short while ago we also heard from his aunt, his aunt marcia lanza, about the family and this tragedy. let's listen to what she had to s say. oka

for the lowest price. and if it finds one, you get refunded the difference.justuseyourciti card and register your purchase online. have a super sparkly day! ok. [ male announcer ] now all you need is a magic carriage. citi price rewind. start saving at citi.com/pricerewind. >>> a good saturday afternoon. i'm craig melvin. you are watching msnbc, the place for politics. 24 days to the cliff. what's it going to take to keep the government on track and keep the nation from going off the rails? we'll talk about that. plus, the push for marriage equality could get a huge lift from the high court. we'll examine what's next for those who want to see same-sex marriage become the law of the land. meanwhile, in egypt, they are just trying to get a functioning government off the ground. we'll go live to cairo where along with tear gas the words in the air today are martial law. >>> first, though, some developing news from south africa where nelson mandela is in the hospital right now. the former president is undergoing medical tests. that's according to the government. these tests have been planned for

ofus. basedon what you heard there, what, if anything, what more have we been able to clean about this shooter? >> well, quite a bit. we continue to clear up this confusion, almost the equivalent of the fog of war that has existed for the past day and a half. we're now told that there is no formal report of any altercation that took place between the shooter and the three or four staff members or teachers that some reports said took place on thursday. we now know, officially, that there's no known connection between the mother in the school, although we labored under the impression all day yesterday that she was a kindergarten teacher. somehow, erroneous information passed on to us. we know from the medical examiner, who personally conduct ed seven of the autopsies, realizing there's many more victims, seven of the autopsies, all which he indicated were first graders, and that each of these -- each of these children suffered between 3 and 7 gunshot wounds each. now, this is with a 223. this is an assault rifle. some information has suggested that the victim's mother had access or

lanza, and his family. what can youtellus? >>reporter: good afternoon. we are starting to put together some of the pieces of the p s te puz i will. adam lanza was home schooled. he has been described by students who -- when he did go to school, classmates of him, as very intelligent and as we have often heard in these cases, also described as loner. someone that didn't have a lot of friends. went out of his way not to be noticed, of course, he couldn't have changed that in a more devastating way than he did by going into that elementary school. his aunt, who has not seen him since he was 3 years old, spoke just within the last hour to local reporters in north carolina. here is what she had to say about adam. >> he was different. he was quiet. nice kid. good kid. he was challenging the family in that house. never in trouble with the law. never in trouble with anything. >> she also talked a little bit about adam's mother who, of course, was the first victim in this massacre. we have a picture of her. this is the first time we have been able to see her. the aunt described her as

're happy to have that fight. so you really are, the possibility ultimatelyofusgoingoff the cliff is very high. because i think both parties are happy to let it happen. and have a new fight in january for different political reasons. >> ed, we saw and heard from tennessee senator bob corker say he is okay with raising tax rates. but at the end of the day, it only matters what john boehner can get the house republicans to accept. last week the speaker indicated he might be okay with raising rates, he backtracked a few hours later. what's the appetite right now for raising those rates? is that something that's going to be an easier sell for john boehner than a lot of folks think? >> i don't necessarily think so. i think until we see guys like say jason chafitz of utah or tim scott of south carolina start speaking out about the possibility of extending taxes for the middle class and going up, i don't think it can happen, necessarily. you know, and they run the risk potentially of running into a situation like we did in 2008. where a deal is put together on t.a.r.p. back then remember

and apparently at that decideded to take his own life. >> what else, michelle can youtellusaboutthose final moments before adam lanza decided to kill himself? >> reporter: well, those are certainly the detailsa we're hoping that we'll learn about, perhaps at this press conference or in the coming days, exactly the length that adam lansa had to this school, in fact what happened, perhaps they'll have a little bit better timeline. when first responders and law enforcement arrived on scene, they arrived to a very active shooter situation, a very chaotic situation and of course what was left behind is just devastating in terms of what they had to cope and deal with in terms of not just the emotions of this, but also processing that crime scene. so that they're say whether take the most time. >> the stories of heroism that happened inside sandy hook elementary school. the teacher who for all intents and purposes risked her life in an attempt to save the lives of her children there. and i do want to call our viewer's attention to the left side of the screen here, president obama who is at andrews

that day are something that, again, has got tobeusedasa measuring stick for the elected representatives of this country, that, you know, she did her job and now it is time for us to do our job. >> you talk about the different tone and the distinction that we're hearing, there are certain voices on the right that are lending different type of perspective to this, like texas governor rick perry. the latest to advocate training and arming schoolteachers. the teacher heralded for putting the kids in cabinets in her classroom. her services held today. then bob mcdonald yesterday saying that it is a conversation worth having about, arming teachers. do you think that's an answer for connecticut and schools across the country? >> i don't. school safety is clearly something that we need to inventory. i'm a member of the education and labor committee next january and have written to the chairman saying, you know, we need to have a real information sharing of best practices. right now school superintendents are getting inundated with solicitations from security firms. we need to help public school